Violet heard the car engine and tried to slow her breathing. Grabbing her purse and keys, she rushed out of her small apartment and down the wooden stairs. When she reached the last step, she looked up to see the man glowering at her.
“I’m sorry, am I late?” she asked, about to glance at her watch.
Creek stared down at the woman wearing a blue dress that wrapped around her figure, making her waist look impossibly small and her breasts…they were perfect, he thought. Full and pert, not too big and not too small.
And he felt like a complete ass for even noticing despite the fact that her dress was made to enhance her curves, not hide them away.
He was doing his damnedest to be a gentleman, but this tiny woman, who barely came up to his shoulder even in her heels, was not cooperating. And since he was rarely a gentleman around the women in his life, his skills were more than a bit rusty.
“I’m supposed to greet you at your door,” he told her, scowling as he tried to get his body back under control.
He shouldn’t be doing this, he told himself. She looked up at him, then up the wooden stairs that led to her apartment and smiled. That sweet, bright smile hit him right in the gut and made his body react quickly even while his mind savored the beauty of her smile.
“The stairs are too narrow for two people to walk down, but I sincerely appreciate the thought,” and she looked down, both to make sure she didn’t step into the puddle that was freezing over now that the afternoon sun wasn’t melting the snow as well as to keep him from seeing how pleased she was by his chivalry.
He still walked over to her and took her hand, walking her around to the passenger side of his vehicle. He held the door open for her and waited until she’d tucked her skirt in before he closed it with a decided click.
Violet looked around at the luxurious SUV. The soft leather was better than anything she’d ever felt in her life. And the dashboard had all the bells and whistles, so many that she had no idea what some of them might do.
The car seemed too expensive for a guy who tended bar at a local tavern. “Nice car,” she said, when he slipped into the driver’s seat.
“Thanks. It will get better traction at night than my motorcycle,” and he started the engine again. “We’re going into Eagle Point for dinner, is that okay?”
Violet smiled in the dim light coming from the dashboard. “That would be nice,” she replied softly. Besides Anchorage, there weren’t too many cities in Alaska that boasted restaurants that would more likely be better classified as diners. There were quirky little cafes that came alive during tourist season, but most of the places one could grab something to eat were where the locals hung out after work and grabbed a fast, cheap bite to eat.
On the drive to the restaurant, they talked about her store, the bar, the sites they’d seen in Alaska and various other small conversational tidbits that always happened on a first date. And the whole time, Violet watched his strong profile in the light from the dashboard, amazed once again that a man like him would want to spend an evening with a mousy woman like her.
Over a steak dinner served with excellent wine and hot potatoes filled with decadent butter and sour cream, she answered his questions about her mother, her father, her stepfather’s place in her life right at the moment, and all sorts of things. And the whole time, all she could think about was how nice he was, and how much she wanted him to kiss her. Would he kiss her goodnight? Or was he bored out of his mind?
On the drive back to Appleton, she sat nervously in her seat, watching the darkness fly by. There were streetlights in the cities, but out on the rural roads in between towns, there were only long stretches of darkness.
When Creek pulled up to her building again, Violet’s hands were clenched in her lap. He turned off his car and turned in his seat to look at her. “Would you like to come up for some coffee?” she asked.
Creek thought about it for a moment before he shook his head. “I think I’d better not,” he told her. He knew that, if he got into her apartment, he wouldn’t want any coffee. He wanted her so badly that he hurt. His body was aching to pull her into his arms and feel her touch him, to lose himself in her sweet body.
“Oh,” was all she could say. “I understand.”
Violet reached for the door handle, wishing she could just sink into a hole. She’d talked about herself throughout the whole meal and then, on the ride home, she’d been too nervous to say anything. She hadn’t been witty company, she hadn’t come up with any new conversations that would stimulate their minds. He was bored!
Good grief, she’d be bored as well if she’d had to sit through a night listening to her talk! “Well, thank you for dinner. It was wonderful,” and she pulled the door open.